Intentions to Marry, 1912 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840450, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1912 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Gisborne (1912a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1912b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1912c).

Page 808

District of Fortrose Quarter ending 31 December 1912 Registrar Arthur James Millard

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

184

2 October 1912

William Smith
Susan Thwaites

William Smith
Susan Thwaites
💍 1912/8871

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

28
18

Otara
Otara

4 years
18 years

In the house of Mr. Joseph Thwaites, Otara

12/8504

Joseph Thwaites, father

2 October 1912

Rev. W. J. Findlay

No	184
Date of Notice	2 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Susan Thwaites
	💍 1912/8871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Otara	Otara
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Joseph Thwaites, Otara
Folio	12/8504
Consent	Joseph Thwaites, father
Date of Certificate	2 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Findlay

188

29 November 1912

William Alfred Gregory
Mary Ann Farquharson

William Alfred Gregory
Mary Ann Farquharson
💍 1912/8891

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

40
29

Fortrose
Fortrose

38 years
2 months

In the house of Mrs. Mary Gregory, Fortrose

12/8500

29 November 1912

Rev. H. Blathwayt

No	188
Date of Notice	29 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Gregory	Mary Ann Farquharson
	💍 1912/8891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	29
Dwelling Place	Fortrose	Fortrose
Length of Residence	38 years	2 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Mary Gregory, Fortrose
Folio	12/8500
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Blathwayt

189

4 December 1912

Henry William Anderson
Clarissa Martha Daplyn

Henry William Anderson
Clarissa Martha Daplyn
💍 1912/8890

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Teacher

24
25

Fortrose
Fortrose

24 years
14 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Fortrose

12/8499

4 December 1912

Rev. H. Blathwayt

No	189
Date of Notice	4 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Anderson	Clarissa Martha Daplyn
	💍 1912/8890
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Teacher
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Fortrose	Fortrose
Length of Residence	24 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Fortrose
Folio	12/8499
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Blathwayt

190

14 December 1912

Peter Rutherford
Alice Black

Peter Rutherford
Alice Black
💍 1912/8894

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
24

Kaitangata
Otara

10 years
24 years

In the house of Mrs. Dinah Black, Otara

12/8503

14 December 1912

Rev. W. J. Findlay

No	190
Date of Notice	14 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Rutherford	Alice Black
	💍 1912/8894
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Kaitangata	Otara
Length of Residence	10 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Dinah Black, Otara
Folio	12/8503
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Findlay

191

23 December 1912

George Dalton
Jessie Robson

George Dalton
Jessie Robson
💍 1912/8892

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
26

Te Awamutu
Niagara

1 1/2 years
Some years

In the Presbyterian Church, Niagara

12/8501

23 December 1912

Rev. W. J. Findlay

No	191
Date of Notice	23 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Dalton	Jessie Robson
	💍 1912/8892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Te Awamutu	Niagara
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	Some years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Niagara
Folio	12/8501
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Findlay

192

23 December 1912

George Jane Smith Ramsay
Elizabeth Margaret Robertson

George Jane Smith Ramsey
Elizabeth Margaret Robertson
💍 1912/8893

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Proprietor

27
24

Waikaka
Niagara

5 years
24 years

In the house of Mr. Wm. Robertson, Niagara

12/8502

23 December 1912

Rev. W. J. Findlay

No	192
Date of Notice	23 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Jane Smith Ramsay	Elizabeth Margaret Robertson
BDM Match (98%)	George Jane Smith Ramsey	Elizabeth Margaret Robertson
	💍 1912/8893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Proprietor
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Waikaka	Niagara
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Wm. Robertson, Niagara
Folio	12/8502
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Findlay

193

26 December 1912

John William McLean
Florence Margaret Hayes

John William McLean
Florence Margaret Hayes
💍 1913/2311

Bachelor
Spinster

Surfaceman

33
20

Niagara
Niagara

2 years
20 years

In the house of Mr. Thomas Anderson Hayes, Niagara

13/178

Thomas Anderson Hayes, father

26 December 1912

Rev. H. Blathwayt

No	193
Date of Notice	26 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William McLean	Florence Margaret Hayes
	💍 1913/2311
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Niagara	Niagara
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Thomas Anderson Hayes, Niagara
Folio	13/178
Consent	Thomas Anderson Hayes, father
Date of Certificate	26 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Blathwayt

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).